//------------------------------// // Twilight, and Sparkles [Parody] [Kind of Dark] // Story: Celestial's Half-hours // by Celestial //------------------------------// "Uh... Twilight? Have you seen Fluttershy?" Spike said, stopping his walk and turning to look at the market ponies. "Not yet today, actually it's been some days, why? Is she-" Twilight followed Spike's pointing claw right to a shopping pegasus mare, talking to an entranced orange seller. Fluttershy looked the same as always, for the most part, yet Twilight couldn't shake her eyes off her; the more she stared, the more the pegasus appeared to her like a furry marble statue had gotten off a pedestal and decided to stroll casually the roads of Ponyville. "Twilight? Twilight?" Hard as he tried, Spike's claw-waving and poking couldn't divert Twilight's gaze from the perfection she was witnessing; he sighed. "I guess I'll go buy the groceries then. See ya later," he deadpanned, shuffling away, shopping bags and list in tow. Fluttershy in the sunlight was shocking. Twilight couldn't get used to it, though she'd been staring at her all this time. Her skin, despite the fur covering it, literally sparkled, like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded in the surface. At the same time, the ponies she interacted with didn't seem bothered at all from the change; rather they looked charmed, if not outright spellbound. Twilight decided to approach the pegasus; a soft scent washed over her and she found herself leaning in closer. It was a honey sweet smell, like lilacs and sun. A part of her rational brain was trying to point out how could something ever smell like sun, but the rest was too entranced to care. "...Twilight?" Fluttershy said, looking mildly concerned. It barely managed to bring the unicorn out of the reverie. "...Fluttershy? Fluttershy! How come you're... sparkling?" It was all Twilight's addled brain could manage. "Oh... It's been happening for a while," Fluttershy said, in a monotone voice. "It is something new, right?" Twilight was finding it difficult to think properly, swimming in a hypnotic, lusty haze. "...Yes." "Would you... would you like to discuss it with the rest of the girls?" "...Yes." "...Alright then, see you at the... the library, yes. In an hour," Twilight managed, before forcing herself to distance the pegasus, shake her head into focus, and go gather the rest of the team. --- Inside the library, the sparkling was almost unnoticeable, and the attraction much more manageable. "Fluttershy dear, what happened to you? Is it the reason why you had to skip our spa appointments last week?" Rarity said, quite concerned. "...Well, yes. I thought I'd wait to see if it would go away," Fluttershy said, emotionless as before. "But what's happened?" said Pinkie Pie. "Have you been cursed by an ancient spirit? Oh! Have you run into a patch of Poison joke again? Or maybe-" "Not really, Pinkie," Fluttershy cut in, "I just think... It's something that I started noticing ever since we made the fruit bat sanctuary." "What's the sanctuary gotta do with all this, girl? You worried for the varmints? Caught a bat flu or sumthin'?" Applejack said. "Ummm... I guess I'll just show you..." Fluttershy offered, opening her mouth to reveal four sharp, long canines, looking completely out of place on an herbivore teeth set. There was a collective gasp. "Fluttershy! You're... you're still a vampony?" Rainbow said. "B-but Twilight changed you back! We saw it!" "Not completely, I guess..." Fluttershy said. "I still have to suck juices from fruits, and... My skin is a lot harder than before. And Angel says I'm very cold." "Is he talking about your temperature, or your temperament?" Twilight inquired. "...Both?" "Oh my goodness," Rarity said, putting a hoof to her muzzle, planning to faint, but at the same time too intrigued to follow through. "And... I think I'm stronger than before, I started to break a lot of things. Oh, and I can't sleep at night. I don't think I need to anymore, actually." "Really? that's gotta be useful! Can I make a surprise party for you at midnight then?" Pinkie said. "So I've been caring about the night animals more than usual," Fluttershy continued, ignoring Pinkie's intervention, "And talking with Discord, and... I've been observing Time Turner... When he sleeps. As a bat." "What." Said Applejack and Twilight at once. Fluttershy just looked down, not opting for a further answer. A stunned silence hung in the room for several seconds. "...Does Discord think anything of this?" Managed Twilight. "He said he's 'loving this'," replied Fluttershy. "Hm. Anything else ya wanna share, Fluttershy?" Applejack said. "Um, I encountered a timberwolf in the Everfree and I wanted to run away, so I flew to my cottage in... no time at all, probably, so there's that." "Wow," commented Rainbow Dash, completely floored, hovering in place by sheer habit. "Awesome!" cheered Pinkie, hoof thrown up to the ceiling. "I'm toootally setting up a 'Fluttershy became a super-strong-super-super-Flutterbat' party!" "I'd probably rather not Pinkie. ...We can have a party for the fruit bats being happy in their sanctuary, maybe?" Fluttershy rallied as she noticed Pinkie starting to tear up. "Well... From what I'm seeing it's probably not contagious," said Twilight, "so it should be safe and contained for now. We can progress next week with-" "Actually Twilight," Rainbow interjected, "Can you make me a vampony too?" "WHAT?!" Twilight shouted. Rainbow threw her legs forward. "Oh come on Twilight, this is amazing! She's literally got superpowers all over the place! I could go even faster than before! That's gotta be like, a whole new level of radical! What's not to like?" "What's not to like?" Echoed Twilight, in hysterics. "Well, maybe the part where you're NO LONGER A PONY? Or where you lose- Hrrgh, look, none of this will happen! Actually, Fluttershy will just wait for me to research a counterspell and we'll bring her back to normal as soon as possible, right Fluttershy?" "Um... I don't know, Twilight," said Fluttershy, "I kinda like how I am right now. It feels... nice. And everypony's been treating me nicely since I-" "That's because you're probably sending off crazy vampire pheromones or something and BENDING THEIR WILL TO YOUR OWN!" Replied Twilight. "Oh..." Said Fluttershy. "It's still nice, though." Twilight ground her teeth together, threatening to explode. With the help of deep breaths and hoof movements, she managed to calm down at a merely simmering level. "At least I guess we should be grateful this happened to Fluttershy and not somepony else." "Yes darling, I shudder to think what could have happened with such powers in the hooves of Pinkie Pie," Rarity said. "Oooooohhh," Pinkie commented, as she contemplated all the FURTHER impossible, physics-defying things she could do with her new powers, though it wasn't adding up to much. "Are you really saying you want to leave this thing only for Fluttershy?" Rainbow insisted. "Look, We don't even KNOW the full extent of the consequences of this transformation!" said Twilight. "But- Just look at her!" said Rainbow. "Do you thing this is a bad thing? Now everyone even respects her! Do I have to gather more fruit vampire bats to make that spell again, or something?" "Actually, I've been wondering if it's actually contagious..." Fluttershy mused. "No," Twilight declared, "No Fluttershy, this is entirely too risky, something HAS to be done and I'll do it, I'll send a letter to princess Celestia while you stay in the library and not move a single mu-" Fluttershy just stared at her, utterly unfazed by the outburst. Twilight was feeling the weight of gaze on her, and suddenly felt uneasy for some reason, and quite a bit embarassed. "Er... well, I do suppose it looks quite harmless so far, doesn't it?" She said, sweating cold. "And I wouldn't want to impose too much, you do have animals to tend, and you're adapting to your new lifestyle and should be left some leeway in your decisions, right? Hehehe." It was Applejack and Rarity's turn to stare at Twilight in disbelief. "Very well," Fluttershy concluded.